The present invention relates to a dental implant system and method.
Dental implants are embedded in the jaw bone and serve to anchor one or more artificial teeth or dentures. Most implant systems involve a relatively long implant cylinder which is placed into a custom bored hole in the jawbone, then left for several months to allow healing and bone integration. Then the implant must be exposed for attachment of a dental prosthetic appliance such as a crown, denture, partial denture or bridge. This generally involves the dentist cutting out a flap of tissue which is peeled back to expose the implant, and secured by sutures after installing the prosthesis. This results in a relatively large area of trauma with a certain degree of pain to the patient and risk of post-operative infection.
Another problem with conventional implants is their length, which makes them difficult to implant in the distal jaw region, where there is insufficient depth to enable their insertion without interference with the mandibular nerve, without the assistance of a dental surgeon to locate the precise position of the nerve and ensure that the implant does not interfere with it. A shorter cylindrical implant would not normally be suitable since it would provide insufficient "hold" and would likely become loosened with time if anchored to a denture or bridge. Also, side to side forces on the implant lead to bone erosion and trauma. Thus, dentures or bridges are often not anchored at the rear of the jaw. However, this has the disadvantage that trauma to the tissue and underlying bone beneath the denture occurs as a result of the denture repeatedly impacting the bone, particularly with long dentures which will tend to tilt or rotate about their attachment or anchor points during chewing or other jaw motions. This biting pressure can result in bone erosion or resorption down to the level of the nerve.